DeZIM Migration Methods Lab | In a foreign land, the plants speak my language

How does the natural environment shape our sense of belonging? And what role can urban gardens play in integration processes?

 

 

 

When: Thursday, April 23, 2026, 1:30–2:30 p.m.
Where: Hybrid event / DeZIM.Saal, Mauerstraße 76, 10117 Berlin
 

As part of this event, Alexandra Goloborodko and Dr. Samir Harb will present their ongoing project “ArtenGarten”—a collective gardening initiative in Berlin-Neukölln that combines research and practice. Together with migrants, they explore how experiences of otherness arise not only through language, the education system, or the labor market, but also through an unfamiliar environment: the plants, the landscape, and everyday nature.

From this perspective, the speakers will discuss how communal gardening can open up new approaches to questions of integration and belonging. At the center is the idea of viewing integration from a more-than-human perspective and understanding urban gardens as places where “home” is actively shaped.

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The event offers insights into an interdisciplinary project at the intersection of art, research, and social practice and invites discussion on new perspectives on migration and integration.

The DeZIM Migration Methods Lab — a series of lectures and workshops at the DeZIM Institute — focuses on qualitative, multimodal, art-based, visual, and sensory methods in social research, with a particular emphasis on migration. The series brings together researchers who work with such approaches in an experimental and reflective manner and share both methodological insights and practical experiences from their research.  

The series is open to all researchers based in Berlin or visiting the city and aims to promote methodological innovation, capacity building, and analytical depth while creating a space for exchange across disciplines, career stages, and institutional contexts. All events take place on-site at the DeZIM Institute.